Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Accountability in Africa

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Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Accountability in
Africa Rural School Fees Expenditure in
Zimbabwe Case Study By Joy Chidavaenzi
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Basic Information

• Intervention Rural School Fees Monitoring
• Intervening Agent Centre for Total
  Transformation
• Location Mazoe District, Zimbabwe
• Goal Promoting quality education and
  general welfare of rural children

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Sequence of Events

• Bursar or School Accounts clerk office
• School Head involvement
• Education Officer involvement
• Community apathy

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Background

• Initiative is a result of reports and complaints
  by parents, teachers, students and school heads
• Inadequate Financial Controls and auditing
  procedures
• Misappropriation of funds
• Failure to pay staff salaries
• High staff turnover
• Inadequate educational facilities and resources
• Poor record keeping
• Parents being taken advantage of by school
  authorities

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Objectives of the Initiative

• To educate and empower communities on their
  rights to
• information and participation in schools
• administration
• demand accountability and transparency from
  school authorities and local councils
• be part of decision making process.
• Dismiss undesirable school staff

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Tools and Methodologies

• Baseline surveys
• Focused target group discussions
• Workshops on school budgeting and expenditures
• Community score cards and report cards
• Structured interviews with the school heads
• Community based Participatory Performance
  Monitoring

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Training

• Training of Community members
• Transparency
• Accountability
• Budgeting and public expenditure
• Roles, responsibilities and rights of school
  committees
• Terms of reference
• Monitoring and evaluation team with written
  reports going to District Councils, Local Leaders
  and Ministry of Education

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Advocacy Activities

• Regular SA awareness meetings and workshops with
  stakeholders
• Community theatres against corruption.
• Local media.
• Open community forum with the Member of
  Parliament and Provincial Governor

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Possible Obstacles

• Perpetrators usually related to some community
  members
• People may think that whistle blowing is not
  morally right
• Lack of jointly developed Code of Conduct for
  school authorities
• Bureaucratic dismissal process
• School head rejected at one school relocated to
  another
• fear of witchcraft

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Results and Impact

• Reduction in corruption cases.
• Sense of ownership of the local schools and
  education in general by community members
• Development and strengthening of school
  development committees (SDCs) or parent/teacher
  associations (PTAs) with proper Terms of
  Reference.
• Improved quality of education.
• Improved educational infrastructure
• Establishment of Child Protection Working Group

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Child Protection Working Group
(CPWG)

• Stakeholders
• Parents/guardians
• Local rural councils
• Church leaders
• Traditional leaders (chiefs and headmen)
• Students / Youth
• Local Member of Parliament
• Provincial Governor
• Parents Teacher Associations (PTA)
• Other partners with interest in education.

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Terms of Reference for the CPWG

• Budget and expenditure monitoring
• Recommend dismissal of undesired staff
• Fundraising
• School development monitoring
• Child abuse awareness campaigns
• Setting up of reporting systems
• Promoting childrens rights

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• Joy Chidavaenzi
• 23 Kew Drive, Highlands, Harare, Zimbabwe
• Telephone [phone]
• 263 4 442544
• Mobile [phone]
• E-mail joy_at_africaonline.co.zw